Shuttle gub



tates SHUTTLE GUIDE AND WEFT THREAD BEATING UP APPARATUS FOR LOOMS FOR WEAVING Erwin Pfarrwaller, Winterthur, Switzerland, assignor to Sulzer Freres, S.A., Winterthur, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Oct. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 765,560

Claims priority, application Switzerland Nov. 16, 1957 9 Claims. (Cl. 139-191) The present invention relates to a shuttle guide and weft thread beating up apparatus in a loom for weaving whereby the shuttle guides conduct the shuttles along a straight line through the shed and the shuttle guides and the reed for beating up the weft threads are individually swingable on separate axes which are parallel to the line on which the shuttles are guided through the shed, the shuttle guides and the reed being actuated by cam follower elements following coaxially arranged rotating cams.

It is known to support the shuttle guide means and the reed means on separate shafts and to actuate these means by levers provided with rollers which follow rotating cams. This arrangement calls for the provision of three or four shafts in the space below the shed between the heddles and the locality where the fabric is let off.

In modern weaving machines the width of the fabric amounts to six to nine feet and even more and the number of shuttle picks per minute is very great. In this case several supports must be provided for the shuttle guide means and for the reed means. A cam drive must be provided at each support. Weaving machines of such great width require a rather large beam connecting the lateral shields of the loom frame which beam usually must be placed between the heddles and their drive and fabric let-off devices whereby the beam takes up the lower part of the space below the shed so that only one half of the height of this space is available for placing the shafts for supporting and actuating the shuttle guide means and the reed.

If the weaving machine is of the type in which the shuttles move around a loop, the means for returning the shuttles from the shuttle receiving side of the loom to the shuttle picking side are preferably located below the shed and still more reduce the space available for the aforesaid shafts.

In modern weaving machines having gripper shuttles which are small and bullet-shaped the forward part of the shed can be made small whereby the distance between the heddles and the fabric beam is further reduced.

It is obvious that placing three or four shafts in the space below the shed is very difiicult in modern weaving machines. This is more so because these shafts and their bearings must be rather large to avoid vibration in high speed weaving machines.

To avoid the aforesaid difficulties the arrangement according to the invention has only two axes, one on which the cams rotate and on which either the shuttle guide means or the reed is rockable and a second axis on which either the reed or the shuttle guide means and cam follower means are rockable which actuate the device which is not rockable on the second axis.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic illustration of a loom for weaving as seen from the cloth beam side, parts being broken away to make other parts visible.

Fig. 2 is a part sectional side view of a shuttle guide and weft thread beating up apparatus according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows the apparatus according to Fig. 2 in a different operating position.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic side view of a modified shuttle guide and weft thread beating up apparatus according to the invention.

Like parts are designated by like numerals in several figures of the drawing.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a motor 11 which is mounted on a right side shield 12 of the frame of a loom for weaving drives a pulley 14 by means of a V-belt 13. The pulley 14 forms one part of a clutch accommodated within the pulley and not visible. The other part of the clutch is connected to the main shaft 15 of the loom. Shaft 15 drives several mechanisms forming part of the loom either continuously or intermittently when the loom is in normal weaving operation. The shaft 15 actuates a warp beam 16 and controls a Warp 17, the warp threads extending through heddles mounted on heddle frames 18. The shaft 15, by means of a chain 40, also drives a shaft 39 forming part of an eccentric drive for moving the heddle frames 18 up and down, for opening, closing and changing the shed. The shaft 15 also drives a control beam 19 and a cloth beam 20 for winding the cloth 21.

The shaft 15 actuates at the proper moments, through suitable intermediate gears, shuttle picking and receiving mechanisms contained in casings 22 and 23. The shaft 15 also actuates a lay 28 including a reed 29.

The weft thread 24 is presented to a shuttle 25 waiting in the casing 22 of the shuttle picking mechanism. The thread 24 is pulled from a spool 27 supported by a carrier 26 and being separate from the shuttle 25. The shuttle is picked through guide teeth 25a across the shed and received by the shuttle receiving mechanism in the casing 23. Thereupon the weft thread 24 is beaten up by the lay 28.

v The weft thread 24 is now released from the shuttle 25 by means forming part of the shuttle receiving device, whereupon the idle shuttle is returned below the shed by means of a return mechanism in a housing 30, which return mechanism is driven by the main shaft 15, from the shuttle receiving mechanism to the shuttle picking mechanism.

A left side shield 12a is connected with the side shield 12 by means of a boX girder 31 to form a rigid frame for the loom. The drive and control 32 of the control beam 19 are mounted on the left side shield 12a.

Handles 33 connected with a control rod 34 serve for actuating the clutch in the pulley 14 through suitable linkage means 35 and for actuating a brake located in a brake housing 37 by means of a linkage 36 for starting and stopping the loom from various localities around the loom. The brake in the housing 37 acts on the main shaft 15 and is applied at improper operating conditions after the clutch in the pulley 14 has been disengaged for immediately stopping the main shaft 15 and all movable parts connected therewith.

The brake in the housing 37 can be released in known manner by manipulating one of the handles 33 without engaging the clutch in the pulley 14. The disconnected main shaft 15 can now be revolved by means of a hand wheel 38 to a desired angular position, for example, for

controlling the setting of parts of the loom with respect to an initial or zero position of the main shaft.

A plurality of housings 41 are located between the shuttle picking mechanism and the shuttle receiving mechanism, each housing containing an apparatus for actuating the lay 28 with the reed 29 and shuttle guide means 25a which are mounted on a rod 51, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

On either side of the housing 41 is a bearing for the main loom drive shaft 15. These bearings are preferably provided with seals for preventing flow of oil from the inside of the housing 41 to the outside. Cams 42 and 43 are mounted on the shaft 15 which cams cooperate with rollers 44, 45 mounted on a cam follower lever 46. The latter is connected to a shaft 47 which is also supported by hearings in the housings 41.

The shuttle guide means include guide teeth which conduct the shuttle 25 through the shed 48 which may comprise several longitudinally aligned parts. The shuttle guide means as weli as the reed 29 for beating up the weft threads 24 are individually swingable on separate axes 55 and 56. The lay 28 supporting the reed 29 is mounted on levers 49 which are freely rockable on the shaft 15 to which the cams 42 and 43 are connected and white rotates on the axis 55 so that the rocking axis of the reed 29 coincides with the axis of revolution of the shaft 15.

The teeth of the shuttle guide means 25a are mounted on a rod 51 which is supported by arms 52 which are made fast on the shaft 47. The axis 56 on which the shuttle guide means 25:; are rockable is, therefore, identical with the axis on which swing the levers 46 with the cam follower rollers 44 and 45. In order to prevent swinging of the arms 52 on the shaft 47 conventional means, for example, keys or clamps may be provided.

Cranks 53 are made fast on the shaft 47, the free ends of the cranks 53 being movably connected with the levers 49 by means of links 54. The latter transmit the rocking movement of the cranks 53 and of theshaft 47 to the levers 49 and, consequently, also to the reed 29. During swinging of the reed 29 to the left the shuttle guide means 25a are also moved to the left and downward to the position shown in Fig. 4 whereby the teeth of the shuttle guide means 25a leave the shed 48 because the shuttle guide means are located in front of the axis 56 which is the axis of revolution of the shaft 47. The reed 29 which is at the rightof the axis 55, which is the axis of revolution of the shaft 15 and of the cams 42 and 43, moves swinging of the reed to the left and upward into the position shown in Fig. 4 for beating up the weft thread 24. In the beat-up position shown in Fig. 4 the reed abuts against the fabric 57 adjacent to a support 58 for the fabric and to the temple element 59 below which temple rollers are located, which are not illustrated.

Upon continued revolution of the main loom drive shaft 15 the roller 44 moves from the position shown in Fig. 4 onto the descending portion 61 of the cam 42. This causes clockwise swinging of the shaft 47 and of the cranks 53 and of the arms 52 with the shuttle guides 25a. Because of the link connection between the cranks 53 and the levers 49 clockwise movement of the shaft 47 causes movement of the reed 29 to the right and downward while the shuttle guide means 2541 move to the right and upward and re-enter the shed 48.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. the shaft 47 is arranged below the main loom drive shaft 15 and the cams 42 and 43 mounted on the drive shaft 15 rotate on an axis 67 which is also the swing axis of the shuttle guide means 25a. The lever 46 supporting the cam follower roller swings on an axis 68 which is the oscillating axis of the shaft 47 and of the reed 29. The latter is rigidly connected by means of arms 62 with the shaft 47. The levers 6-3 on which the shuttle guide means 25a are mounted are freely rockable on the main shaft 15 of the loom. The levers 63 are individually provided with toothed segments 66 cooperating with pinions 65 which are interposed between the segments 66 and toothed segments 64 which are mounted on the shaft 47. The pinions 65 are rotatably supported in the housings 41.

With the position of the axes 55 and 56 in a substantially horizontal plane in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 2 to 4, sufficiently long levers 49 and 52 can be provided although the space available for the apparatus may be rather low.

The arrangement of the axes 67 and 68 below one another as shown in Fig. 5 has the advantage that the cam follower levers 46 can be arranged below the cams 42 and 43 so that a space which is limited as to width can be well used.

If the rocking angle of the cam follower elements 44 to 46 is the same as the rocking angle of the device which swings on'the same axis as the cam follower elements'this device can be rigidly connected with the shaft 47.

The arrangements shown in Figs. 2 to 4 provide favorable conditions for driving the shuttle guide means 25a because interposition of 'links in the drive means is avoided and a very small clearance exists only at the rollers 44, 45 so that the shuttle guide means 25a are correctly positioned in the shed 48. The position of the reed when beating up the weft thread need not be absolutely accurate because the fabric 57 can yield.

If the rocking angle of the shuttle guide means 25a is relatively great as in Fig. 5 because the lever 63 must be short in this arrangement, a rigid connection of the shuttle guide means with the shaft 47 would necessitate excessively large cams 42, 43 for moving the shuttle guide means out of the shed. For this reason the arms 63 are swingable on the shaft 15 and a speed changing transmission is interposed between the shafts 47 and 15 for increasing the rocking angle of the arms 63 relatively to the rocking angle of the shaft 47.

The rocking angles of the reed 29 and of the shuttle guide means 25a are defined by the configuration of the shed 48 and the type of shuttles used in the loom to which the apparatus according to the invention is applied.

What is claimed is:

1. In a loom for weaving comprising shuttle guide means for guiding the shuttles along a straight line through the shed, reed means for beating up the weft threads inserted by the shuttles, said shuttle gmide means and said reed means being individually rockable on separate axes which are parallel to the line along which the shuttles are guided through the shed, a plurality of cams rotatable about the rocking axis of one of said means, and cam follower elements engaging said cams and rockable on the rocking axis of the other of said means and being operatively connected with said shuttle guide means and with said reed means for actuating said shuttle guide means and said reed means.

2. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim I and wherein the rocking axis of said shuttle guide means is substantially in the same horizontal plane as the rocking axis of said reed means.

3. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim 1 and wherein the rocking axis of said shuttle guide means is substantially in the same vertical plane as the rocking axis of said reed means.

4. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim .1 and wherein said cams rotate on the rocking axis -of said reed means.

5. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim 1 and wherein said cams rotate on the rocking axis of said shuttle guide means.

6. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim 1 and wherein a rotatable shaft is provided with which shaft said cams areconnected and on which shaft said reed means is .rockable.

7. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim 1 and wherein the rocking angle of said cam follower elements is equal to the rocking angle of the means which rock on the same axis as said cam follower elements.

8. In a loom for weaving as defined in claim 1 and wherein a rotatable shaft is provided with which shaft said cams are connected and on which shaft one of said means is freely rockable, a second shaft being provided to which said cam follower elements are rigidly connected for oscillating said second shaft by said earns, the other of said means being rigidly connected with said second shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Duckworth Ian. 11, 1876 Kronofi Oct. 16, 1956 Dunham May (28, 1957 

